1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and method for providing improved access to Internet websites for those with special needs, such as people with disabilities, children, and the computer-illiterate, in general, and, in particular, to a system and method that provides a platform which interprets and translates web pages for users with special needs, where the original web pages are not necessarily modified for users with special needs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although the term xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d is properly used to describe a specific worldwide collection of networks that use IP/TCP (Internet Protocol/Transmission Control Protocol) for communication links, the term xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d is used in the vernacular to describe what can be accessed using a web browser, namely, web pages providing audio/visual content, Java programs, and interfaces that allow the input and output of information from a data source. In addition, most people associate e-mail systems, such as Microsoft Outlook(trademark) or Qualcomm Eudora(trademark), with the term xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d, partly because many people access their e-mail using a web browser, partly because it seems to come down the same pipeline. In the following description, the term xe2x80x9cWebxe2x80x9d will be used to describe these and other user-friendly functions and interfaces that are available over the Internet.
When a person accesses the Web using a web browser, she usually uses URL (Uniform Resource Locator) addresses or bookmarks, which are essentially shortcuts for URLs, in order to navigate through the Web. A URL has three parts: the protocol used by the resource (such as http), the DNS (Domain Name Service) name of the machine, or web server, where the resource is located, and the local name for the resource on the machine where the resource is located. Bookmarks simplify this process, by allowing the user to save the URL for later use, so the user will not have to input all of the characters representing the URL again. Most users see the Web as a huge collection of web pages, which are stored and maintained on web servers, and navigated by entering URLs, or selecting bookmarks, or clicking xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d, which will be discussed more fully below.
The protocol used to transfer web pages is the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which describes the requests sent by web browsers to web servers, and the responses sent from the web servers back to the web browsers. When a user enters a URL for a web page as a destination in a web browser, the web browser sends a GET request to the appropriate web browser, which responds by sending the appropriate web page. Web pages are written in a language called HyperText Markup Language (HTML). HTML involves xe2x80x9chypertextxe2x80x9d, which is much more than mere text, and provides for links to other web pages, as well as pointers to other resources. HTML is a xe2x80x9cmarkupxe2x80x9d language because it describes how documents are to be formatted. Although all web pages are written in a version of HTML (or other similar markup languages), the user never sees the HTML, but only the results of the HTML instructions. For example, the HTML in a web page may instruct the web browser to retrieve a particular photograph stored at a particular location, and show the photograph in the lower left-hand corner of the web page. The user, on the other hand, only sees the photograph in the lower left-hand corner.
In many ways, HTML is the heart of the Web, because it allows for the easy, user-friendly nature of navigation through the Web, as well as the user-friendly appearance of web pages. Many web pages have xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d, which can be in the form of text, an icon, a graphic, a photograph, etc., and, merely by clicking on the link, the user may download another web page or a resource, such as an audio file, a program, a text file, etc. In this context, the terms xe2x80x9cclickxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdouble-clickxe2x80x9d signify a user pressing the button on a mouse attached to a personal computer (PC), when the cursor controlled by the mouse is over a particular area on the computer screen of the PC. A user may move from web page to web page, or resource to resource, merely by clicking particular objects on the screen, rather than entering lengthy URL addresses. In addition, as stated above, users may save particular URLs as bookmarks, for easy retrieval.
HTML also allows for the use of xe2x80x9cformsxe2x80x9d, which allows for the input of information on the web page, and which sends the input information to a URL indicated by the HTML. In addition, the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) provides a standard for an interface between a database and the Web. There is a script, or program, that provides the parameters and methods of the interface. The location of this script is indicated by a URL, and is referred to by the HTML of the web page. Thus, the input information of a form is often sent to the URL of a CGI script, which then interfaces with a database.
The interactivity of web pages is further increased by the use of Java(trademark) applets, which are referred to within an HTML page by the URL where they are located. Unlike CGI scripts, which are kept and run at the web server end, applets are downloaded from the web server to the web browser, where they are run. Further unlike CGI scripts, applets are fully functional mini-programs, which may be used to embody a game, a complex form that changes depending upon input (such as a spreadsheet which shows totals in real-time), or active multimedia. Animation and sound may be embedded in a web page using an applet, without the need of spawning an external multimedia viewer. In addition, because it is run locally, in the user""s web browser, an interactive applet is much faster than downloading responses over the Web.
However, the advantages and interactivity of HTML web pages, which use CGI scripts and Java(trademark) applets, may be lost on users with special needs. Users with special needs include the blind or vision-impaired, the deaf or hearing-impaired, the dyslexic, and the computer illiterate. For these users, the Web is neither easy nor user-friendly.
For the blind, the problems with a system which is mostly based on visual cues are obvious. Even the simplest component of a web page, the text, can not be apprehended by the blind. To a greater extent, the links, graphics, and interactive modules are not user-friendly for the blind. All of this information could be stored in the form of audio files, or be translated in real time by a text-to-speech synthesizer. However, if audio files comprising the information are stored and transported from the web page, the web server would need to store a large amount of additional material and the operator of the website would need to create a large amount of additional material. If a text-to-speech synthesizer is used, the information contained and related by the spatial relationship between text and other objects on the website would be lost. In addition, loss of these spatial relations may make the resulting audio incomprehensible or difficult to understand or follow.
For the deaf or hearing-impaired, the audio cues that are a part of many websites have no effect. On may web pages, audio material is used to indicate activity, such as computer processing or searching, and problems, such as a lost connection. Furthermore, audio material is part of many multimedia presentations, and may include vital information for understanding or appreciating the presentation. One solution would be to have a live interpreter, either present in the room or connected over a network, who would give the deaf or hearing-impaired user through the audio material. Another solution would be to have an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) program in the web browser, but this would only be effective for human speech, and not for audio cues or material such as music.
For people who have problems reading, such as the dyslexic or the elderly with poor eyesight, the Web can be difficult to understand and follow. The text on web pages may be too small to read, or the spatial relations between objects on the screen may cause confusion. One solution to this problem is to re-design the web page with much larger text, and simplified spatial relationships. Because of the color-intensive nature of web pages, the color-blind may also find it difficult to navigate the Web. For example, in most web browsers, text that also operates as a link appears in a different color to distinguish it from regular text. Furthermore, links that have been previously followed, i.e., the URL resource to which the link refers has been previously downloaded, appear in a different color than a link which has not been followed. These color subtleties may be lost on the color-blind. One solution would be to translate these color cues in to some sort of visual cue which can be seen by the color-blind.
Those who are inexperienced, or scared, of computers have their own brand of difficulties with the Web. The more complicated websites, which assume a thorough familiarity with the Web and how the Web works, may be mystifying to the computer-illiterate. The navigation principles, the use of links, the nature of pop-up windows, and other features of the Web might merely confuse the computer-illiterate, rather than make the experience easy and user-friendly.
The various solutions to adjusting the Web for people with special needs bring up their own various problems. The solution of keeping several different versions of each web page, one for each special need, would be expensive both in terms of storage and creation. Furthermore, one of the great advantages of the Web, the fact that a web page can be altered very quickly, would be destroyed by the delay in translating and creating all the various versions of the web page. One could also create a universal web page that will serve all special needs as well as regular use, but it would be difficult to take all special needs into account simultaneously, as indicated by Michael G. Paciello""s article xe2x80x9cAccess to Electronic Information by People with Disabilitiesxe2x80x9d, at page 235 of the IEEE Proceedings of COMPCON ""97, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Furthermore, a universal web page would likely result in a xe2x80x9clowest common denominatorxe2x80x9d web page, capable of being understood by all, but lacking any artistic verve as well as not taking advantage of the media flexibility available on the Web. Another problem is that a standard would have to be developed and accepted by industry (and the Internet Engineering Task Force) for either the universal web page or the multiple special needs web pages in order that the web pages be operable in all web browsers. This brings up the further problem that each special need, e.g., blindness, deafness, dyslexia, would require its own special standard.
Another solution would be to have a live interpreter connected to the user with special needs. This interpreter could be present at the computer with the special needs user, or connected to the special needs user""s computer through real-time networking. In this manner, the special needs user would receive accurate and timely interpretations of each web page. Furthermore, the special needs user could ask the interpreter questions in order that the user fully understand each web page. This solution may be very effective, but it would also be very expensive and very time consuming. There is also the further problem of who would bear the costs of this endeavor, the special needs user or the web page producer.
As detailed above, most solutions would require a great deal more expense and effort from either those that maintain web pages and websites or those users with special needs.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method that provides web page content for users with special needs. There is a further need for a system and method that provides web page content for users with special needs without requiring undue expense and effort by either the user or the web page producer. Such undue expense or effort includes, but is not limited to, the maintenance and creation of multiple web pages for each special need, the agreement among interested parties on standards for each special need, and the requirement of live interpreters to provide the web content for each user with special needs. Furthermore, the system and method should provide that the advantages of the Web, such as the ability to alter web page content in real-time, the ease of creating web pages, and the ease and flexibility of interaction with web pages, be maintained.
An aspect of this invention is to provide a system and method for providing access to the Web by users with special needs.
Another aspect of this invention is to provide a system and method for proving web pages to users with special needs without undue expense and effort by either the users with special needs or the web page producers.
Yet another aspect of this invention is to provide a system and method that provides web page content to users with special needs.
To fulfill the above and other aspects, a system and method for providing transformed web pages to users with special needs is provided. In one aspect of the system and method, a Translator/Mediator Server is located between the user and the web site. The Translator/Mediator Server translates and transforms the web pages that the user requests from the web site. The translation and transformation of the web pages is directed towards the particular needs of the user.